Bonjour,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- M-PESA Ethiopia adds AI to its wallet
- When a job offer becomes a war zone
- SIU exposes R181M Home Affairs fraud
M-PESA Ethiopia adds AI to its wallet
Ethiopia’s mobile money app is getting an AI upgrade. M-PESA Ethiopia has teamed up with Gebeya Inc., an AI-powered creator platform, to roll out the Dala AI Bundle, a subscription product that gives users access to AI creation tools directly through their mobile money accounts. In simple terms, the same app people use to send money can now help them build apps, design games, generate comics, and create content in local languages.
The companies say this is the first time an African mobile money operator has bundled AI-powered creative tools as a mainstream consumer product. The bundle integrates Gebeya’s Dala Studio tools into the M-PESA ecosystem, allowing Ethiopians to subscribe and pay seamlessly within the app. The tools support app development, AI agent creation, game building, and AI-generated content in Amharic, Oromo, and other local languages, a notable move in a market where most AI tools default to English.
What this means is that AI access in Ethiopia may no longer be limited to developers with foreign cards or access to global platforms. By embedding AI tools inside a widely used payments app, the barrier to entry drops significantly. A student in Addis Ababa, a small business owner in Bahir Dar, or a creative in Hawassa can experiment with building digital products without navigating complicated payment systems.
The launch also builds on Gebeya’s earlier footprint in the country through the Safaricom Talent Cloud, which has trained thousands of Ethiopian developers. Now, instead of focusing only on upskilling, the model extends into tooling — giving creators infrastructure, not just training.
Zooming out, the move signals something bigger: M-PESA’s evolution from a payments utility into a digital services gateway. Across Africa, mobile money platforms are layering on savings, credit, insurance, and merchant tools. AI could be the next frontier. If the model works in Ethiopia, it may offer a blueprint for how African markets localise and distribute AI, not as a standalone tech product, but as a service embedded in everyday financial infrastructure.
When a job offer becomes a war zone
The job offer looked ordinary. A message on Telegram. A listing shared on WhatsApp. A recruiter promising factory work, construction jobs, or a student visa in Russia or Israel. For some young Africans, that message has ended not in a workplace, but on the front lines of foreign wars.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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Over the past year, reports have surfaced of young people from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and other African countries showing up in conflicts in Ukraine, Russia, Israel and across the Middle East. More than 1,400 Africans from 36 countries are reportedly active in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict alone. But many of them didn’t sign up as soldiers. They signed up for “jobs”.
Investigations by outlets such as The Washington Post found that some recruits entered Russia legally on student, tourist, or work visas after responding to online job ads. In other cases, asylum seekers in Israel were reportedly offered incentives tied to the Gaza war. The pitch often mentions factory work, security roles, construction, or study opportunities. Only after arrival do some discover the military link. Passports are allegedly confiscated. Contracts appear in unfamiliar languages. Refusal can mean threats of deportation or jail.
What’s striking is how modern the recruitment pipeline looks. These pathways run through platforms that most young Africans use daily: Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and gig-work sites. The same digital infrastructure powering remote work and global freelancing is also being used, in some cases, to funnel vulnerable workers into conflict zones. In the past, mercenary recruitment was niche and closed off. Today, a smartphone and economic desperation can be enough.
The uncomfortable question is whether this is random opportunism or deliberate targeting and what it says about youth unemployment, migration pressure, and the darker edges of the global gig economy. For more information, including whether recruiters are deliberately targeting Africans and the platforms being used, check out Delight’s latest for Techpoint Africa.
SIU exposes R181M Home Affairs fraud
South Africa’s visa system wasn’t just broken; it was for sale. That’s the picture painted this week after the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed the results of a cyber forensic probe into the Department of Home Affairs. The investigation, authorised by the country’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, found that officials allegedly colluded with foreign nationals to illegally issue visas and permits. According to the SIU, parts of the immigration system operated like a “marketplace”, where approvals went to the highest bidder.
Investigators searched five refugee reception offices, seizing devices and analysing 237 digital items. What they found was a pattern: WhatsApp messages coordinating expedited approvals, e-wallet payments ranging from R500 to R3,000, and bribes routed through spouses’ bank accounts to avoid detection. In one case, a permit was approved, and money landed in a spouse’s account the very next day. Four officials earning under R25,000 a month allegedly received over R16 million in direct deposits. Some reportedly bought properties outright and built high-end developments far beyond their salaries.
What this means is that corruption wasn’t isolated; it was systemic. The SIU traced more than R181 million in financial gains linked to fraudulent visa applications backed by fake documents. Over 2,000 study visas have already been flagged as fraudulently issued. For a country battling unemployment, migration pressures, and strained public services, the integrity of the immigration system is not a side issue; it’s central to governance and national security.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says the long-term fix lies in digitisation. The department is doubling down on its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, launched ahead of the G20 leaders’ meeting, which uses machine learning and biometric checks to verify applicants. More than 30,000 tourist visa applications have already been declined through automated screening. The plan is to phase out manual processing entirely, the very loopholes the SIU says enabled the fraud.
The bigger story is about technology versus human discretion. For years, paper-based systems left room for manipulation. Now, the government is betting that algorithms, biometric verification, and integrated digital records can close those gaps. Whether digital reform can outpace entrenched corruption remains to be seen, but after this report, few would argue that the status quo was working.
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Have a superb Thursday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
